Global Payments quarterly results top expectations

ATLANTA (AP) -- Electronic payments processor Global Payments Inc. said on Tuesday that its fiscal second-quarter earnings rose nearly 15 percent, beating Wall Street's expectations, on strong revenue growth in its U.S. operations. The company also raised its full-year earnings expectations for fiscal 2013, and its board authorized an additional $150 million in share repurchases.

The processor of credit, debit and gift card payments for merchants and financial institutions reported net income of nearly $70.2 million, or 89 cents per share, for the three months ended Nov. 30. That was up from earnings of $61.2 million, or 78 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.

Excluding certain items, Global Payments reported adjusted earnings of 93 cents per share. On that basis, the performance topped the consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by FactSet, who had expected adjusted earnings of 87 cents per share, on average.

The company reported quarterly results after its shares rose 12 cents to close at $46.07. In after-hours trading, the stock added 93 cents, or about 2 percent, to $47.

Revenue from the company's U.S. operations jumped 16 percent to nearly $340 million. Revenue declined 6 percent in Canada, while rising 11 percent at Global Payments' international business, including Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

For the full fiscal year, the Atlanta-based company increased its adjusted earnings expectations to a range of $3.61 to $3.68 per share, up from its previous forecast of $3.59 to $3.66. Global Payments maintained its outlook for revenue of $2.36 billion to $2.4 billion. Those ranges imply earnings growth of 2 percent to 4 percent compared with fiscal 2012, and revenue growth of 7 percent to 9 percent.

Global Payments' expectations are in line with analysts' consensus forecast for $3.64 per share in earnings and revenue of $2.38 billion.

The company also said its board authorized management to repurchase an additional $150 million in the company's stock, doubling the current authorization to a total $300 million. As of Tuesday, $287 million of that authorization remained available.